Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, along with religious leaders from the north metro area, spoke to members of the Rotary Club of North Fulton and guests Thursday about using their blessings to make change in the community and beyond.

“This is not a time of scarcity,” Young said during his keynote address at the club’s annual North Atlanta Interfaith Prayer Breakfast.

“This is a time of plenty. We are probably more blessed now than any other people on the face of the earth in the history of humankind. But we have not yet found a way to bring order to this chaos.”

Young petitioned attendees to use their advantages of technology and wealth to feed the hungry and help those in need.

“We are both the answer to the problem and a part of the problem,” he said.

He did, however, praise the service work of the local Rotary Club, mentioning the club’s ongoing efforts of constructing a dam in the African country of Swaziland so that residents there will have fresh water. He said just the day before he heard someone say half the hospital beds around the world are occupied by patients who are victims of illness as a result of unclean water.

“I’ve been amazed at this community’s ability to respond,” Young said.

Ben Hunter, president of the Rotary Club of North Fulton, said the dam will provide irrigation for the crops grown in the area and clean drinking water.

In addition to Young’s speech, the prayer breakfast included speakers representing the Islamic, Jewish and Vedanta faiths in order to be “inclusive of those in our communities,” Hunter said.

Brother Shankara from the Vedanta Society of Atlanta in Tucker, Rabbi Fred Greene from Temple Beth Tikvah in Roswell, and Bassem Fakhoury with the Islamic Speaker Bureau — and a member of the Roswell Community Masjid — all gave information about their religions and messages of inspiration. Shaun King of Johns Creek Baptist Church and Harvey West of Roswell United Methodist Church were also present at the event to deliver the opening prayer and the benediction, respectively.

The prayer breakfast, held at The Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta, also was a celebration of National Day of Prayer.

The Rotary Club of North Fulton had an exceptional event last week on the National Day of Prayer. The North Atlanta Interfaith Prayer Breakfast featured Ambassador Andrew Young as the featured speaker.

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